Sociedad Quimica y Minera (NYSE: SQM) Critical Minerals Exposure

Sociedad Quimica y Minera, known as SQM, is a Chilean producer of lithium, iodine, potassium nitrate and specialty plant nutrients, headquartered in Santiago. Its lithium comes from the brines of the Salar de Atacama, one of the richest lithium resources in the world, and from the Mt Holland mine in Western Australia, which it co-owns. Under a partnership with the state copper company Codelco, its Atacama operations move into a joint venture in which Codelco takes majority control from 2031.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera is linked to lithium and potash. It produces lithium carbonate and hydroxide from Atacama brine and, through its stake in Mt Holland, from Australian spodumene, supplying battery makers worldwide. Potash, together with potassium nitrate, comes from the same brines and goes into fertilisers and specialty plant nutrition.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera's lithium and potash operations draw brine from the Salar de Atacama, with lithium chemical plants at Salar del Carmen near Antofagasta. Its iodine and nitrate operations are in Chile's Tarapacá and Antofagasta regions, and it co-owns Mt Holland in Western Australia with Wesfarmers.